We still plan on holding the Grand opening! We look forward to seeing you.

The sheep dog demonstration on Sunday is cancelled-Sorry

Schedule (Tentative)

Saturday  August 15th

 11:15 Ribbon Cutting- Join us for the Grand Opening                 of the new building and exhibit.

11:30 - 1:30 Free BBQ - Hamburgers, hot dogs, lamb, Potato             salad or coleslaw, and chips - under the trees.

12:00  Session 1 - David Romtvedt- 
    Music and Memory: Basques in the American West
featuring Basque songs and stories of Basque immigration both to Wyoming and throughout the Americas.  The focus will be on music as a marker of Basque community and identity.
12:30 Wander free
1:00  Session 2 -Cat Urbigkit:
    Sheep and Predators
    Acclaimed author and rancher, Cat Urbigkit, Speaks about predators, sheep and guard dogs.
1:30 Roam the range
2:00 Session 3 - Suza Bedient:
    Talks about shearing throughout Wyoming and the world. Hear how an eastern gal learned to shear and joined the world circuit of shearers.
2:30 Take to the trail
3:00 Session 4- Lewis Moon 
    Talks about processing wool in their small (and local) operation; Yampa Valley Fiberworks. Watch a short video about their operation.

4:00 Head home and rest up for tomorrow.

Sunday  August 16th

    8:30 Pancake breakfast: 
Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage, Orange Juice, Coffee. In Rusty’s Pavillion. Reserve your place at the check-in desk    on Saturday
    9:30 Trek leaves Museum in your good clearance vehicle with a full tank of gas:
-Drive up Cherry Grove to the top.
-Talk about sheep and cattle wars.
-Drive on the Savery Stock Drive past the roller-coasters.
-Stop at the Savery Bridge.
-Drive to the “Counting-in Corrals”. Hear poetry by Sharon             O’Toole and a song by Jake Fleming.
-Drive through aspens and see tree carvings by sheep herders.
-Divide Sheep Headquarters- Drive (or be driven) to the Divide         Headquarters cabin in the forest (one mile) branches may scratch your car.
-Basque Accordion music-Listen to David Romtvedt play Basque accordion music.
-Drive to Hwy 70 and see more tree art.
-Leave for home (between 12:00 and 1:00)
Thank you for coming!

David Romtvedt:        A writer and musician from Buffalo, Wyoming.  Longtime accompanist to the Buffalo Basque dance group Zaharrer Segi, he is currently completing a ten part radio series for EITB, the Basque National Public Radio network.  His books related to basque life are: Buffalotarrak: an Anthology of the Basquefs of Buffalo, Wyoming, the novel Zelestina Urza in Outer Space, and Gernikako arbola/The Tree of Gernika, translations of the nineteenth century Basque poet Joxe Mari Iparragirre.  His recording of Basque music is Hori da/That’s it with the band Ospa.                   Romtvedt@uwyo.edu                       
Suza Bedient:        Started on a shearing gang in 1983, shearing lambs at the feedlot in Worland, working for Dale Aagard. He ran five rigs and 35 shearers, mostly from New Zealand. The outfit moved throughout Wyoming, chasing sheep, including Baggs. She then followed her “mates” to Australia, then New Zealand, where she discovered blade shearing in the high-country stations. Her career had a sudden stop in 1991 with a herniated a disc in her back. Yet she still has a passion for the lifestyle and “can talk about shearing and sheep and wool way longer than you have the patience to listen”.                                    suzabedient@gmail.com

Cat Urbigkit:        Cat Urbigkit is an author and photographer who lives on a working sheep ranch in western Wyoming with her family and her livestock guardian animals, including guardian dogs and burros. Urbigkit shares the beauty of rural life through her nonfiction books for both children and adults. In books for adults, Urbigkit often writes about big predators, and life on western rangelands shared with these species.  catu2@gmail.com

Yuri Chicovsky:     Yuri Chicovsky is a filmmaker and memoir writing teacher based in western Colorado. He has been documenting the sheep ranching way of life on the Villard Ranch (25-miles south of Baggs) for over a decade. His short film, “Jacket”, premiered at the 2020 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. It is his first film.”      yurichicovsky@gmail.com    

Lorrae & Lewis Moon with Yampa Valley FiberWorks:          Yampa Valley FiberWorks mills natural fibers for their customers from all over the world.  They are universally referred to as a wool mill, but they specialize in wool, alpaca, llama, mohair, and angora natural fibers. Yampa Valley FiberWorks is dedicated to regional sheep farming, environmental cohesiveness, and keeping the natural fiber milling industry alive and well in the Yampa Valley. Their 1000 square foot store offers local artisan products, custom milled yarns and natural fiber products. They also offer classes on numerous topics.
                           yampavalleyfiberworks@gmail.com